Empty Swings and Egoistic Prats
by RoseScor90
Summary: Molly Weasley had changed; she admitted as much to everyone. But it was the fact that it was Lysander Scamander who had brought that change that bothered her. For the 100th time, please do read and review!


Disclaimer: It hasn't been JK for the past 100 fics, so no, I'm not JK…

A/n: So…I've finally reached my 100th fic! A shout out to everyone who read, favorited, alerted and reviewed my fics! You made me come this far!

This fic is dedicated to Mad, who's the most awesome ardent Molsander shipper I ever knew!

Also to Amy, who gave me this idea of trying new styles of writing! Hope I did well, Amy!

P.S.: The story moves around three tenses: Past, Molly's childhood; Middle, With Lysander and Present: At the party. Hope it isn't too confusing!

It had all been for him; that dratted Scamander; and where was he when all was said and done? _Nowhere; gone; disappeared_. Molly flicked her hair behind her ear as she got ready for Lucy's party; her _younger_ sister's _engagement_ party. Where, no doubt, she'd be bombarded with questions as to how she felt being the unmarried elder sister, as if she was some kind of _spinster_. Who married at _twenty one_? Molly could state one too many people who remained single until they were thirty; and remained happy; and none of them were from her family. Molly sighed resignedly as she sat on the dresser.

She was pathetic and just not worth it; she knew that, but knowing did nothing to help her combat the awful cynicism that she seemed to carry on her shoulders now-a-days. No wonder she was dateless. Closing her eyes, Molly leaned her head on the cool glass of the full length mirror, trying to slow her beating heart.

She knew he would come; it was only his _twin's_ engagement party. Not that Molly was afraid of meeting him, but if he had a date, well, that would effectively make her morale take a nose-dive into the pits of hell. But, she wouldn't show that he affected her, no matter how contrary the truth was…

**And this, Dear Readers is where we leave Molly to her own musings, for, we are not going to travel with her in the smooth flow of time. We're going to take the much jerkier, much more faster way through the occasions in her life; through the past, present and of course, the most enigmatic tense of them all; the future.**

**Fasten your seat belts…**

XXXXXXXX

_i_

"_You look pretty, princess." Percy commented, gazing proudly at his first daughter; to him, she would always be a miracle._

"_Thanks, Dad, but really, princess? Don't you think that's a bit too old?" Molly replied, lifting her head regally to stare at her father, who seemed a bit shocked._

"_Nothing's ever too old for my little girl, I guess." He lifted her into his arms, and Molly bore it with what she thought was amazing patience._

"_I think Lucy would better appreciate being carried around, Dad. I can walk, you know?" Percy smiled in understanding; he knew how it felt to be eight; independent and self-sufficient. He let her down and Molly ran away lest her father go on about the Princess stuff again._

Molly rolled her eyes as her father called her what he considered an 'endearment'. Frankly, she was fed up of all that goo-ey affection; who needed that, really? Noticing her expression, Lysander, who had been seated near her, asked, "Not your favorite word?" He was smirking.

"It just gets old after a time. At eight, in my case." She huffed in boredom.

"He just loves you, you know that, right?" Molly looked at Lysander as if he had grown an extra head.

"Yeah, well he's supposed to. I am his daughter afterall." Seriously, was this guy nuts? How could a father _not_ love their children?

"Well, you don't see him beaming like the sun over Lucy, do you?" Lysander went back to his food, but Molly's appetite was lost; she was staring at her father and Lucy.

Indeed, her father rarely ever smiled at Lucy or even looked at her, whereas she could see him grin at her from across the table from time to time. She knew her father was being partial to her, but she couldn't blame him because she wasn't faultless; she had been throwing all his love straight at his face, hadn't she?

Molly couldn't believe she had been so naive as to take anybody's love for granted.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lysander could see the direction Molly's eyes were turning; he smiled to himself, satisfied.

(Future)

"Hey Dad!" Molly greeted cheerfully, trying to hide her nervousness. She hugged him tightly, breathing in the scent of lemons and parchment that was so distinctly her father.

"You're late, Molls. Lucy's been looking for you," Percy chastised, grinning at his daughter, "You look perfect, Molly; just like your mother."

Molly smile back at him, his easy affection for her quenching any tension she might have had; no matter what happened, here was a person who'd always love her. The only kick in her gut was that _he _had been the one who had made her realise that.

"Your Princess, aren't I?" She laughed with him, remembering, and regretting.

_ii._

"_I don't understand what's wrong with her, Molly. Why can't she be as good as you?" Molly turned at her mother's voice. She had been staring at the fire in the hearth, wondering when she would get to return back to school._

_She had never had a problem with her home before, but now that she knew about the adventures and excitement of attending a school, her home suddenly seemed empty and boring._

"_Lucy? I don't know, Mum. Maybe she just has different goals or something. Each of us is our own person, or isn't that what you've always told me?"_

"_Yes, I did, Molly, but look at her…she's so…normal, and ambitionless. How do you think she'd become anything great, if she keeps this up?" Molly didn't know the answer to that, but she understood her mother._

_Ambition was the only thing that was worth it; without a defined high placed aim, life would be purposeless…_

"They look happy, don't they?" Lysander asked as he sat beside her on the shore of the Black Lake. She had been staring at the couple walking around the grounds; _her_ sister and _his_ twin.

"I guess, but I've never really understood Lucy so I guess I'd never know." Molly shrugged noncommittally.

"You don't understand your own sister? That's pathetic." Molly narrowed her eyes at him, her auburn hair swinging around as her eyes snapped to his.

"I wasn't asking for your judgement, ." A knowing smirk flashed on his lips and there was that glint in his eyes, the one she knew meant he was going to make some smart aleck, appearingly wise remark.

"Oh, but they matter to you, don't they Molly?" He asked, putting a hand around his shoulder. He merely chuckled when she shrugged it off, repeating it until she got too tired to retaliate.

"I don't remember giving you permission to call me Molly."

"Well, there are too many Weasleys around and also…" Molly knew he was only trying to pique her curiosity, but the words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Also what?" She asked rather snippily, turning her head away, pretending to be engrossed in the scene around her. Her eyes inadvertently moved to her sister. She was laughing now, carefree and completely…liberated. _She_ had no expectations to fulfill, she did not have to rise up to everyone's wishes, she…her thoughts were interrupted when he muttered in her ear.

"Perfect, aren't they? We'll be almost related when they marry; don't you think it would be rude to call my sister-in-law's sister by her surname?" He grinned as she looked at him, astonished.

"They aren't even that old yet!"

"Oh, but anyone can see that they're in love. Don't you think love is better than anything else in the world?" Molly was about to retort that no, ambition still won that place when she heard her sister's laugh again.

It was genuine, pure and blissful; it made even Molly happy, seeing her so cheerful. But Molly had never felt that happiness, even when she had got top marks in the class. Maybe, just maybe, love had a little edge over ambition.

"I guess." She shrugged unaffectedly, not willing to admit that he was, once again, right.

"You know I'm right, but you just won't admit to it." Lysander grinned at her before he stood up abruptly, hurriedly wishing her good bye.

He was gone as suddenly as he had come and Molly was left to wonder why he kept doing that.

(Future)

"They look great together, do they not?" Molly smiled at her mother, remembering what she had said about the self same Lucy Weasley a few years back.

She had been on her mother's side then, she still was on her side now, because Audrey Weasley had come to understand and accept that her two girls were as different and contrary as was possible.

"I'm glad she found Lorcan to take care of her; he adores her." Molly replied, tears of happiness clogging her throat.

"As he should; he has got the most precious jewel of them all." Molly knew her mother was only saying that to compliment Lucy, but she acted affronted all the same.

"So she's the favorite now? Because she's getting married before me?" Audrey's shocked expression changed into a laugh when she saw Molly's eyes twinkling.

"I can only give out the best of things that are comparable, you know?"

"You're just saying that."

"Of course I'm not Molls, you're my first daughter, and that will always be a step above in my heart." Molly hugged her mother, wishing she could tuck away this little moment in her heart forever.

She understood Lucy a lot better now; she knew that ambition wasn't all that mattered. And it had taken her an arrogant run away to come to terms with that.

_iii._

"_Hello Molly. It's been so long since I saw you!" One of her obscenely cheerful cousins Victore Weasley traipsed towards Molly, who sat sulking in one corner of the room._

"_Yeah, that's because you graduated and I'm still stuck in school." Molly replied and flinched as she hugged her; what was with these people and hugging others to death?_

"_Oh come on! Hogwarts is so much fun!" Victoire retorted, grinning like a fool, her Veela charm open for anyone to notice. Not a big surprise, really, Molly thought as she saw the half drained glass of firewhiskey in her hand._

"_Yeah, right." Molly rolled her eyes mockingly._

"_You just need to loosen up a bit, Molly." Victoire smiled companionably as she sipped her second glass of firewhiskey. It was another of the Weasley parties and Molly was being bored out of her mind by her cousin's words of wisdom; was it any wonder she was irritable?_

"_And you need to stop bossing people around." Molly bit back snappily and walked out of the place, leaving behind a shocked and hurt Victoire._

"Why is your cousin glaring daggers at you?" Lysander asked as he slipped in beside her on the beach. All the Weasley Potters had gathered on the beach for the day and Molly had retreated to the shade of a small tree that had grown on the far side of the beach, away from the shores.

"Because I told her the truth." Molly almost yelled; the sun was too bright for her to concentrate on anything else; it was giving her a headache.

"Accusing people of being bossy isn't very nice, especially when it happens to be your cousin who was about to tell you that she was going to get married." Molly gave up her attempt at ignoring him, her eyes finding his and then Victoire in succession.

"She was?" Lysander nodded, explaining.

"She thought you would be sensible and give her some comfort, but then…you went and turned on her, accusing her…"

"It was the truth!" Molly exclaimed, but her mind wasn't on it. She was only recalling how Victoire's face had shrunk at her words; how Victoire's beautiful face had looked like she had slapped her.

"Still, did you have to be so crude to her?" Lysander asked in a soft voice; the very same tone which was patronizing, igniting her temper but also understanding, dousing it.

"I…I made a fool of her, didn't I?"

"You could say that; but there's always a way to rectify it." Molly looked at Lysander with puzzled eyes.

"Just apologise to her. Pretty simple, right?"

"But how do you apologise?" Molly asked to thin air; he had already disappeared.

(Future)

"Molly! Wow! Is it even possible for you to become more beautiful, cuz?" Victoire hugged her tightly, laughing. Molly chuckled herself as she embraced her cousin, careful not to hurt her in her delicate condition.

"Says the resident Veela. Is Teddy taking good care of you? If not, just tell me and I'll find some incurable hex to put him under." Molly threatened, looking at her cousin-in-law walking towards them.

"Don't put ideas in her head, Molls, please." Teddy tried to seem exasperated but a smile was tugging at his lips too.

"I just want Victoire to be happy." Molly replied, her eyes glazing over. Victoire, observant as she was, placed a comforting hand on her arm.

"That's all in the past, Molls. We made up, didn't we?"

"Yeah, we agreed that you were bossy and I was a know it all. Good times." Molly replied, grinning.

"You were terrible at a simple sorry." Victoire deadpanned, smirking; Molly promptly blushed.

"It was my first time! And it was Lysander's idea anyway." The name rolled off her tongue effortlessly, but the echo of it clenched her heart painfully.

"How is he? You two are still like, together, right?" Molly nodded disbelievingly.

"How many people thought that? We aren't, never were, together. He just helped me with some things, that was all." Molly replied and with a hurried good bye, left behind a suspicious Victoire.

She didn't care; she needed to find a private place to let the moisture dry up.

_v_

_Molly giggled as the swing went higher; she could almost see past the bushes now._

"_This is fun, Luce." She declared to her little sister, who simply nodded, too timid to say anything more than that. Their father had just installed two swings in the backyard and Molly had insisted that they play in it as much as possible._

"_Don't you like it?" Molly asked, staring at her sister, who was, now that she noticed, a bit green._

"_I think I feel dizzy." Lucy tried to stop the swing, too quickly. Molly saw with alarm that she was about to fall._

"_Luce, no!" Molly, in a stupid burst of sisterly affection, jumped from her own swing, pulling Lucy into a hug so that her back broke the fall._

"_Ow!" Lucy looked down at Molly, frightened._

"_Are…are you alright?" She asked with wide eyes, but Molly just laughed before she winced._

"_Nope, but if Dad asks, I was the one that fell off the swing and you couldn't do anything about it, alright?" Lucy smiled gratefully at her sister as she helped Molly up._

"What are you doing here?" Lysander asked as he took a seat beside her on the adjacent swing.

"Why do you always have to come bother me?" Molly snapped, but Lysander just smiled at her for that. Molly honestly thought that he had the toughest skin she had ever seen.

"Maybe because I feel comfortable on this…" Molly heard the crunching of wood as the swing broke in two and Lysander toppled, "…swing." He finished, a smile on his face from his sprawled position on the ground. Molly couldn't help but giggle.

"I'm sure falling on your butt every few minutes is rather addicting." Molly remarked as she lent him a hand which he took to stand up.

"Reparo." The swing was back in place and he sat on it gingerly.

"Why do you always sit here?" He asked, completely ignoring her dumbfounded expression at seeing him use magic out of school.

"It's a place I consider my _private_ hiding spot." Molly snapped, turning her head away from him. She felt childish doing so, but she really wasn't in the mood for answering his questions, though he seemed earnestly interested.

"From the way you speak, one would assume that you wanted me gone." He laughed, as if the very suggestion was incredulous.

"One would be right in that assumption. Why do you have to come bother me all the time? You only ever point out my faults, anyway!" Molly Weasley never whined, it was a credible fact, but even to her ears, her retort sounded like a whine.

"Not this time." Lysander replied cheerfully, his eyes glinting in the sunlight; she had never noticed that there were so many specks of gold in his grass green eyes.

"What?" She asked, her mind muddled from her observations; there was the slightest hint of nervousness in her voice; a light tremor that she dearly wished would go unnoticed.

"I'm not going to point out your faults this time, Molly. I was talking to Lucy that day and mentioned an incident, a few years back, when you took the blame for something she did…" Molly huffed.

"I have no idea how it wouldn't reach Dad if she goes around telling that to everyone. And it was no bother; I know Dad isn't as patient with Lucy as he is with me. I was just saving unwanted drama." Molly shrugged nonchalantly, though her heart was beating rather fast; she was afraid she'd blush anytime now.

"Is that what they call a blush of modesty?" Molly turned away, hiding her face behind the wall of her auburn hair. Even through that, she could feel Lysander's intense gaze on her face.

"It was nothing." She whispered, hoping this feeling, whatever it was, would pass soon.

"Of course it was, Molly. It showed me something. Do you know what?" She sensed him get down from the swing and walk to hers; her heart rate seemed to double.

"Hmm…" Was all she could muster, while staring at the ground; she did not understand, what had so suddenly come over her? Why was his compliment doing this to her? Did his words matter so much to her? Did _he_ matter so much to her?

"That you aren't all bad, Molly. Somewhere inside you, there's that bit of insecurity that makes you act rude and abrupt, but you're just unsure. You're plain scared; but you know something? Whatever happens, Molly, just believe this; you can trust me; you can always count on me to be there." He walked away as suddenly as he had come, and the feeling, whatever it was, expanded so much that Molly feared it would stop her heart; but it just placed itself firmly in her heart, its every beat a reminder of his words.

(Future)

Molly stood at the window, looking over the backyard, the empty swings; that was how her heart felt, like a void, like vacuum, like someone had sucked all of her spirit out and taken it away.

The sight before her seemed barren, lifeless, inspite of the pretty lights and the little fairies and gnomes. Because she wasn't seated there, but that could easily be remedied. But the scene would still be incomplete because _he_ wouldn't be there. He wouldn't sit beside her, making her blush and stammer; he wouldn't break the swing each time he sat on it and repair it before sitting on it again, laughing; he would never tell her that she wasn't all bad; the highest compliment to her eager heart. Molly considered going to the swing in a stupid hope that he might appear out of nowhere but stopped herself. It was one thing to watch a melancholic play; quite another to be the heroine standing amidst the battlefield, crying her heart out.

"He promised he'd come, Molly." Lucy said as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Despite her small stature and meek nature, Lucy, for that one moment, was the elder sister, comforting Molly with her words.

"You shouldn't have told him I'd be here." Molly's chuckle was dry, even to herself. It was only when Lucy wiped them away did she realize that tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"I should have; that would have been the only thing that would have pulled him out of his depression." Lucy replied, earning another chuckle from Molly.

"The ever confident Lysander Scamander in depression? Hard to believe." Molly turned to walk away, but Lucy stopped her.

"This isn't my secret to tell, but know this - you are the only thing that even elicits a response from him now-a-days."

"Yeah, and miracles are tangible things." Molly replied sarcastically, but a knowing, soft smile appeared on Lucy's face, her eyes fixed behind Molly.

"As it happens, they are." Molly turned to face the windows to see what the sight that so captivated Lucy was.

There, sitting on the swing, the self same swing he had broken and repaired too many times to count was Lysander, his gold-green eyes gazing at the closed door as if willing it to open by itself.

"Go." Molly hardly heard Lucy's voice; there was a loud ringing in her ears that drowned out any sound other than the dull creeking of the swing. Molly fumbled with the knob of the door, her nervousness increasing; he was here. She dashed out the door and into the backyard, startling Lysander into almost falling out of the swing.

"Mol…" She gave him no chance to speak; she wasn't ready to listen to reason, not just yet. She threw her arms around his neck, bridging the gap between them in one giant leap. Her lips crashed on his in a mixture of desperation, anger, sorrow and joy that was reflected in him as he kissed her back a moment later.

All the years of suffering, all the tears, all the fury, all the hate in her melted as he drew her close, seemingly afraid that she'd disappear. She was fine with that; she needed this closeness to believe that he was, actually and truly, standing before her; that he wasn't another of her illusions.

"Why?" Her question was breathless and almost an inaudible whisper, but he heard her all the same.

"I was afraid, Molly. I was…" Lysander chuckled as he continued, "I was bloody terrified of what I had got myself into. I wasn't supposed to fall in…for you. It wasn't in the plan."

"What plan?" Molly asked, confused.

"Lucy, Rose, Roxanne and Lily formed a conspiracy to reform you. They thought you were acting too high-handed for a Weasley. With Lorcan's aid, they recruited me to help them. To make you listen to sense, since whatever they said seemed to go over your head. I think I did some good but along the way…I guess there's no hiding it now…I fell in love with this bossy, pampered, know-it-all, perfect prefect, Head Girl Molly Weasley." Lysander chuckled at her astonished expression, but was careful to note that she wasn't angry or sad.

"What were you afraid of, silly? Of course I love you!" It was the simplest, most uncomplicated statement she had ever made and it made her lips curve in a smile.

"You'd be mad not to," Lysander chuckled as he saw her affronted expression, "Who else could bear your domineeringness, huh?" Molly laughed; it felt horribly relieving to do just that; laugh.

"Only you." She rested her head on his shoulder like she had once before, listening to his heart beat in sync with hers.

"I was terrified back then, so I ran away, taking refuge behind NEWTs and then Auror training. But I was never happy, Molly. I knew that, everybody seemed to know that. Hell, even _James_ noticed." Molly chuckled; he must have been quite obvious then.

"But do you know what made me realize that I needed to be back here? That this was where I belonged?"

"What was it?" Her voice was reduced to a whisper, muffled by his cloak.

"You remember that day by the Black Lake when I told you that love was better than everything else? I was walking by a lake today when it suddenly struck me that I've been the world's biggest hypocrite. I mean, love was greater than everything; that meant fear too, right?" Molly lifted her head to kiss his cheek.

"So you dragged yourself to this mess of a party?"

"It is my twin's engagement party!" Lysander replied, shivering in disgust.

"Hard to accept? Try the engagement party of a younger sister." Molly replied, grinning.

"I guess that is a slight bit worse than mine," Lysander agreed, smiling before adding, "But I always told you, didn't I? That they would end up together?"

"Married? Yeah, yeah, gloat all you want." Molly rolled her eyes even as she looked into his eyes; she still couldn't believe he was here.

"No more than you are going to about going out with the hottest guy in town." Molly smacked him on the arm as she chuckled.

"I thought that title went to Malfoy, but don't worry, you can have the one for the most irritating boyfriend on the planet," She offered consolingly, an almost sympathetic expression on her face.

"We should go back inside before the others come in search of us." She added hurriedly when she saw the glint in his eyes that she knew meant trouble; for her.

"Yeah, and I'm going to be so annoying that I'm going to get us kicked out."

"You won't!" Molly exclaimed frantically; what if her father didn't approve of his annoying behavior?

"I so am going to." He put a hand around her shoulder as he dragged her towards the house.

The resultant evening was the most hilarious one in the Weasley household which, indeed, was saying something. Percy Weasley never forgave his daughter's boyfriend.

A/n: 100 is a special number, right? So it does deserve a review, right?

Please don't favorite without reviewing, and thanks!


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